Jake LeFebvre is one of the best players in the world at a computer game called Insurgency -- and no one in his life knows or cares. When the opportunity arises to compete in a national tournament, he has to decide whether to pursue his dreams or stick to the path that his family has laid out for him. In this excerpt, a conversation with a new acquaintance forces Jake to take a hard look at himself.

At last, the winner of the 2003 Emerson College Senior Writing Award for Non-Fiction has been hastily published on a website! This personal essay recounts my career as a member of Out Post Farm's elite turkey slaughterhouse crew. All the gory details are here, and then some, but I hope you'll think it's funny, too. Remember, you can't spell "slaughter" without "laughter."

Zeke Bowden is an underachieving baseball player whose fortunes turn around when he discovers the power of an unlikely performance enhancer. After rocketing to superstardom, he strikes up a romance with beat reporter Carla Trotter. But when Carla discovers his secret, she plans to publish an exposé that could ruin everything. In this scene, Zeke attempts to prevent her from running the story.